More than 30 years in the oil industry has provided George Yule with a great deal of experience – and not all of it good. But the Aberdonian's latest venture as chief executive of Dominion Gas, a supplier of industrial gases to the offshore industry, looks like being a positive one.

Yule joined the company in 1986 as a director with the remit to prepare the company for sale and arrange an exit for then owner Gareth Jones.

This was achieved through a 2007 management buyout, leaving Yule as the biggest single shareholder.

Since then, Dominion has increased turnover from £5.1m a year to £23m. The number of sites has also grown from just one in Aberdeen to seven worldwide with around 100 employees.

Yule has not stood still since the MBO.

"In the aftermath, we bought our competitor, Global Gas, in a £22m deal," the 57-year-old explains.

"And about four months ago, we bought another local company in cryogenic isotanks, Argon Isotanks.

"We also have a target in mind on the chemical side."

Yule adds the company aims to expand organically by opening a plant in Ghana, and another in the Middle East.

Yule started in the industry with Shell UK as a drilling support engineer in the Brent field before setting up his own agency, Clean Ocean, in 1998.

Within months, the price of oil dropped to US$9 a barrel.

"There wasn't an awful lot of drilling being done at that price, "he laments.

"We put the company down in 2002 having paid back all the creditors.

After a spell at Norwegian rig company Polaris Rig Management, Yule joined Calash, a pre-acquisition diligence and market research business.

One project he was brought into involved an investment in Great Yarmouth funded by the then owner of Dominion, Jones.

"My role was to turn the company around, stabilise it, and prepare it and its assets for sell-off, "says Yule.